This discussion reminds me of another forum, where some 13yo posted his
own photograph, and the moderators removed it. Their explanation was that
they didn't want to take even the smallest possible risk of a lawsuit
against the forum. (Nobody could point out a law that prohibits a 13yo
from posting his own photograph on an internet forum, though.)

Yet you wouldn't believe the excuses that *those exact same* moderators
come up with when the question of distributing copyrighted material comes
up. Suddenly all that super-exaggerated caution goes completely out of the
window, and they start stretching the definitions of "fair use" and whatnot
beyond belief.

Somehow copyright brings forth the worst in people. Even people who are
otherwise extremely honest and moral suddenly start to come up with the
wildest of excuses to ignore authors' legal rights to their own work.

And not only from a purely legal point of view. From a moral point of
view too. Like here, they just outright *ignore* what the author is
actually saying about who can use their work, and come up with all kinds
of silly excuses like "you distributed it in your webpage, therefore
I don't have to listen what you are actually saying; by doing that you
have relinquished all rights to your own work to me." (It doesn't matter
that the law is on the author's side. It also doesn't matter that *morally*
it's wrong to use the work when the author explicitly says that he doesn't
want you to.)

People should be more honest. Don't invent excuses. If you want to use
the software completely ignoring the owner's wishes, then be a man and
just say so. "I don't care what they say. I'm going to download and use
their software because I want to. I don't care if it's illegal or immoral."

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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